Still, Lone Peak found a way to beat Skyline 25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 25-18 at Utah Valley State College on Saturday to win its first Class 5-A state title.

"Last year to come in second, we just wanted this so bad," said setter Lacey Laycock, who finished with 42 assists and eight digs. "Their defense was good but we're just all about team. When we play together, it makes everyone feel like they're a part of it and we play better."

That's what Skyline coach Jami Hutchins said was so tough about the Knights. Lone Peak had a weapon in every rotation.

"The greatest thing about them is they have strength at every position," Hutchins said. "They don't have a weakness. They always had two hitters just banging away."

Skyline had its weapons, too. Emi Dunn was smart when she was at the net, hitting off the blockers and tipping the ball to mix things up. Whitney Nilson was also able to put the ball where Lone Peak defenders weren't.

But Lone Peak had too many weapons. If it wasn't Faith Tusieseina, Aubrey Muaina or Lacey Cramer getting kills from the right and left side, it was Hillary Olsen getting it done from the middle blocker position. Tusieseina, Muaina, Cramer and Olsen finished with 16, 10, nine and seven kills, respectively.

"Skyline has great athletes but my kids just know how to play under stress," said Lone Peak coach Deanna Meyer, who started to tear up as fans chanted her name after the match. "They played us hard. They were the only team to take a game from us in the state tournament. They made it a great championship match."

Even in the games they lost, the Eagles started out strong. In the first game, Skyline had a 6-3 lead before the Knights went on a 9-1 run. In the third game, the Eagles were up 5-1 before Lone Peak tied the game at 12-12. From that point, they went on to score seven points while holding Skyline to two.

But the most crucial lead the Eagles let slip away was in the fourth game. Skyline had a 10-6 lead but that quickly faded away when Heather Hannemann went up to serve. She served for six points and had four aces in the run.

The Eagles battled back to tie the score at 16-16 but couldn't hold on for much longer.

"I feel at that point, we got excited and that's what pushed us through," Laycock said.

Tusieseina added: "We needed to peak and we did. We were prepared for that. They were consistent but all year long, our No. 1 goal was to take state."

mthach@sltrib.com

* Lone Peak setter Lacey Laycock totals 42 assists and eight digs.

* Faith Tusieseina has 16 kills as Lone Peak wins its first 5-A title.